


Where You Least Expected

by angelskuuipo



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Early Work, Friendship, GFY, Gen, season 1 of Angel, season 4 of Buffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-04 07:17:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1770379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelskuuipo/pseuds/angelskuuipo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spike and Willow head to LA to help a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where You Least Expected

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this ages ago, but couldn’t figure out how to carry on. Un-betaed; any and all mistakes are mine.
> 
> Originally posted 1-16-08.

~*~*~*~*~*~

He could hear the broken sobs when he entered the park. Curious, Spike followed the sound to the playground. His first reaction at seeing Willow slowly revolving on the merry-go-round was to lay more guilt on her for casting that thrice damned My Will be Done spell, but as he watched her wipe at her tears he couldn’t do it. He’d been where she was now and he could relate. Spike walked over and joined her on the ride.

“Hey Red, what’s with the tears?” He asked softly.

Willow jumped and hastily wiped her eyes again. She looked at Spike in confusion for a moment. “Why are you being nice? You’re never nice. You take every opportunity to remind me of just how bad a witch I am, how I can’t keep a boyfriend, how I can’t hold my own in a fight, how I just slow Buffy down.”

The witch jumped up and started pacing, gesturing rather wildly with her hands. Spike frowned as he listened to her rant. He had the distinct impression that she was not really referring to him. He watched her and listened closely to what she was saying. It was a truly insightful monologue.

“I made a mistake, all right? Okay, yeah, on the scale of mistakes this one wasn’t exactly small, but I fixed it! Does that mean anything to any of you? No! I go anywhere near one of Giles’ spell books and he harrumphs and polishes his glasses and _politely_ suggests that I leave those books for him to go through. I’m not stupid! Buffy and Xander won’t spend any time with me because they’re afraid I’ll try to talk to them about Oz AND I know they haven’t forgiven me for the spell, which I’ve apologized ad nauseum for! My God, how many batches of cookies and “I’m sorry’s” do I have to go through? It’s all fine and dandy for Buffy to cry on my shoulder about Angel until I’m ready to strangle her, but God forbid should she be there for me when the ONLY guy who ever paid attention to me, who saw more than research girl or a study buddy, who said he loved me, LEAVES me, supposedly for my own good. But did he talk to me about it? Did he even give us a chance to try to work things out? Hell no. Willow’s too fragile to handle big time, adult type relationship issues. Best to just leave quietly and send for my stuff later. Fucking coward.”

Willow whirled and pointed at Spike, catching him slightly by surprise. “And you, Mr. Big Bad, you got to kiss the Slayer. How many other vamps, okay, one that I know of, can lay claim to having the Slayer be in love with them? Can you imagine the mileage you could get out of that at Willy’s? You had her wrapped around your little finger!” She narrowed her eyes and stalked closer to Spike. “You know you played a big part in why Oz and I broke up in high school. If you hadn’t kidnapped me- and Xander- to have me do that stupid love spell to get Dru back we wouldn’t have had that “impending death, we should kiss” moment. You, of all people, should be at least somewhat sympathetic to what I’m going through.”

Willow stopped and dropped her head. “I just wanted it to stop hurting.” She moved and slumped down next to a gaping Spike.

The vampire watched her trace abstract patterns in the dirt with the toe of her shoe as he tried to think of something to say. First and foremost, he thought, if she had let all this out in the beginning, she probably would have never done the spell. His second thought was that he was a master vampire and it was his duty to play on her emotions and try to wring as much pain out of her as he could. With this sodding chip in his head, it was one of the few entertainments he had left.

Spike opened his mouth to twist the knife a little more and was beyond shocked at what came out instead. “You’re right, Willow.” She looked at him warily from beneath the fall of her hair and he swallowed, but continued. “Your friends shouldn’t have tried to force you to get over the wolf leaving so soon. They should have given you the same courtesy you’ve always given them.” He hesitantly reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I have been where you are, and I know how much it hurts. I’m sorry.”

Willow stared at Spike, wide-eyed. Had he really just apologized to her? “Did you just say you were sorry?”

Spike scowled. “Yeah, so? Don’t go thinkin’ it’s gonna happen again. I’m still evil and don’t you forget it. You tell anyone I was nice to you and I’ll find a way to make you pay.”

Willow smiled crookedly and leaned over to kiss the vampire on the cheek. “Thanks, Spike.”

He touched his cheek and started to smile back when two things happened at once. He caught the unmistakable stench of Initiative soldiers getting close to where they were sitting and he and Willow both doubled over as a wave of intense anguish slammed through them. They gasped out, “Sire!” “Angel!”

~*~

Spike recovered first and stood shakily. He looked at Willow, still trying to catch her breath. A twig snapped off to the right and Spike said, “Come on, pet. It’s not safe here.” When Willow didn’t respond Spike picked her up and carried her swiftly out of the park. He kept an eye out to make sure they weren’t being followed.

She looked up at him, fresh tears streaming down her face. “What happened? What’s wrong with Angel?”

Spike met her liquid green gaze. “Don’t know, but we’re gonna find out. Fancy a road trip?”

Willow nodded and laid her head back on Spike’s shoulder. Something was wrong with Angel. She knew a bond had been formed between them when she’d restored his soul, but this was the most intense she had ever felt him. Whatever it was, it was bad.

Within an hour the pair was packed and on the road in Spike’s beat up DeSoto. Willow was glad she was still a little numb from her earlier emotional storm and the shock of feeling Angel’s pain. Spike’s driving was a thrill ride in and of itself and she’d never been fond of those types of rides. She shut her eyes and tried to regroup.

Spike, for his part, was worried and just wanted to get to LA. He’d learned to close off the Sire/Childe bond over the years, but whatever had happened to the great pouf was bad and the intensity of the emotion had broken through the door. No matter that he and Angel didn’t get along, his Sire was hurting, and Spike had to go to him. He wasn’t sure why Willow had felt it too, but it was apparent that she had. He glanced over at her and saw she had her eyes closed. He’d ask her later.

They arrived in LA in record time and Spike opened the bond to try to find Angel. He was surprised when he found himself at the building Angel lived in. He pulled into the parking garage and turned the car off. Spike gently placed a hand on Willow’s shoulder and her eyes opened immediately.

“We’re here, luv,” he said quietly.

Willow nodded and they got out of the car. Spike cautiously opened the door and headed for Angel’s apartment, Willow following behind him. The sight that greeted them made them both gasp. The place was in shambles. Everything had been torn down from the walls, the furniture had been destroyed; it looked like a hurricane had ripped through the basement dwelling. A muffled sob caught Spike’s attention and he moved to the bedroom.

There, huddled in the corner on the floor, was Angel. The older vampire was barefoot and had his head buried on his drawn up knees. Willow brushed past Spike and moved towards him. Spike moved to stop her, but then let her go. She was better at this consoling thing than he was.

Willow knelt in front of the crying vampire. She asked softly, “Angel?” When she didn’t get any response she laid her hand on his bent head. He flinched, but didn’t look up. Willow moved closer and whispered, “Angel, please look at me. It’s Willow. I’m here with Spike and we want to help you.”

Angel finally looked up and Willow caught her breath at the shattered look in his eyes. She didn’t speak, just took him into her arms, and held him. He wrapped his arms around her and continued to cry into her shoulder. Willow felt Spike come up behind her and didn’t protest when he maneuvered them all into a more comfortable position. The pair sat, holding Angel as he cried, both wondering what had brought the proud vampire to this point. They both murmured soothing words and stroked Angel’s back, waiting for him to come back from wherever he was.

After what seemed like hours to Spike, but was probably more like a half an hour, Angel’s tears subsided and he stirred from Willow’s shoulder. Raising bleary eyes, he looked at Willow in confusion. “Willow?”

The redhead winced at the harshness of his voice. He had apparently by crying for some time. She smiled softly. “Hey.”

Wiping his eyes, Angel sat up and met with Spike’s chest. He started and looked back and forth between the two of them. “What’s going on? Why are you here? Did Spike kidnap you? What are you doing with him? If you’ve hurt her, I’ll dust you. So help-“ The rapid fire questions were halted by Willow placing her hand over Angel’s mouth.

She didn’t notice Angel leaning into her touch, but Spike did. He filed it away to think about later.

Willow spoke softly, soothingly, “We felt you, Angel. We felt your pain and wanted to help you. Spike won’t hurt me, he can’t.” She saw Spike open his mouth to protest and shook her head slightly. Now wasn’t the time for him to puff up like an insulted rooster. “What happened?”

Angel removed her hand from his mouth, but kept hold of it. He didn’t want to talk about it yet, so he looked at Spike and narrowed his eyes. “Why can’t you hurt Willow? Are you in love with her?” They both snorted and Angel was just more confused.

Spike smiled fondly at Willow and answered him. “Nah, just fond of the chit. We’ve bonded over cookies and heartbreak.” He looked Angel in the eye and found it harder than he thought it would be to admit he was de-fanged. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Government sods put a chip in my head. I can’t hurt humans anymore. Can’t hunt, can’t feed, can’t be a proper vampire.” Angel’s eyes widened and Spike spoke before he could launch into another round of questions, “We’ve shared. Now it’s your turn. Why’d you destroy your place? Red and I hoofed it here as fast as we could.” His voice softened. “What hurt you, Sire?”

Angel shut his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. “I failed. I lost Doyle and I’m probably going to lose Cordelia, too. I-I couldn’t save them.”

~*~

Through several stops and starts Willow and Spike got the story of how Doyle died out of Angel. Willow hadn’t met the seer, but the obvious affection Angel held for the half-demon was evident in his speech. Spike had respected the Mick for standing up to him when he’d been after the Gem of Amara and felt a twinge of sadness at his passing. Angel also told them that Doyle had passed the visions on to Cordelia and Willow had to wonder how the former bane of her existence was dealing.

Willow knew Angel was tired, but she had to know what he’d meant about losing Cordelia. “Angel? Why do you think you’re going to lose Cordelia?” He flinched and she tightened her grip on his hand.

Angel sighed and looked at her. “She’s in the hospital. She was on her way back from an audition this afternoon and was hit by a car. Th-the doctors don’t know if she’s going to make it.”

Willow’s free hand flew to her mouth. This wasn’t right. Angel was a good soul and didn’t deserve to have those he held dear taken away practically at the same time. She shook her head. “No, Cordy’s strong, she’ll fight if only to come back and give the Powers hell. She’ll make it Angel, you’ll see.”

He shook his head. “I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t keep her safe.”

Spike took Angel’s chin and made him look at him. “It was daylight, yeah?” Angel nodded. “What could you have done? You couldn’t have been with her. It wasn’t your fault.”

Intellectually, Angel knew his childe was right, but he just couldn’t help wondering if there was something he could have done.

Willow looked around the wreck that was Angel’s apartment. It was late and she knew none of them were up to cleaning. She untangled her hand from Angel’s and stood up offering her hands to the vampires. As she pulled them up, she asked Angel, “Does the hospital have your cell number?” When he nodded, she said, “Good. Pack a bag, Angel. The three of us are going to a hotel. I’ll work on getting this cleaned up tomorrow.” When it looked like Angel was going to protest she set her expression and pointed to her face. “Resolve face. You’re going.”

Angel relented and gathered some clothes. He looked around his apartment and winced at the damage he had wrought. He was going to have to replace all of his furniture. As they were leaving, Angel stopped then headed to the phone. When Spike and Willow looked at him in curiosity, he said, “I should let Wesley know to call my cell if he needs me.”

Willow’s eyes widened. Wesley? Watcher Wesley? Apparently there was more Angel needed to tell them.

Once they were on their way to a hotel, Angel asked, “Does Buffy know you’re here?”

Willow shook her head, “Nope.” In her haste to get to her friend, she had forgotten to leave a note. Mentally, she shrugged. She’d try to call them in a couple of days.

~*~

**In Sunnydale- A Week Later**

“Has anyone seen Willow? I need her to look up something on that infernal contraption of hers,” Giles said as he studied a particularly difficult translation.

Buffy and Xander traded guilty glances. They both realized that they hadn’t seen or talked to their friend in a week. Buffy said, “Um, no Giles, we haven’t seen her. I’ve been really busy and haven’t been in our room much.”

Xander nodded and looked at Anya, who was ignoring them in favor of painting her nails. He said, “I haven’t talked to her either, G-Man. Been kinda hard, what with the new job and all.”

Giles looked up. When was the last time he’d talked to Willow? It had to have been more than a week ago. She had been helping him research and was looking through a spell book. He’d steered her away from it and she had left shortly thereafter, muttering about not being a child and knew when she wasn’t trusted or wanted. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Spike lurking around trying to scam blood and fags off him either.

He took off his glasses and absently polished them. “Oh dear.”

~*~

**In Los Angeles- Two Days After the Revelations in Sunnydale**

Willow laughed as Cordy finished her story. The brunette had woken up four days ago and she and Willow were finding that being away from the Hellmouth was conducive to them being friends.

“He really said that, ‘You could be a rainbow, not a painbow’?” Willow gasped out between giggles.

Cordelia nodded with a grin. “Yep. Air quotes and everything. It was classic.” She shifted on the bed and Willow reached to help her adjust her pillows. “Thanks. When can I go home?”

A voice from the door answered her. “When the docs are sure your brain is going to stay the proper size, pet.”

Willow hid her grin at the flush that stole over Cordy’s face as Spike sauntered into the room. She watched as her friend self-consciously patted her hair and fiddled with the blanket. Once she accepted that fact that Spike wasn’t going to kill her, Cordelia had started treating him like she did Angel. Spike had been very attentive to the former cheerleader since they’d started visiting her in the hospital. Willow thought they suited each other rather well.

“Spike! What are you doing here at,” Cordelia looked at the clock and her eyes widened, ”6:30 in the evening? It’s sunset already?”

Spike nodded and sat down on the other side of the bed. He looked at Willow. “Angel’s parking the car. He’ll be up shortly.” He grinned as he picked up the increase in the redhead’s heartbeat as she nodded and smiled. The last week had been good for her, he thought. She seemed to truly be coming out of the depression she’d been in since the wolf had left.

Spike watched with silent pride as Willow handled Angel’s moods and refused to back down when the other vampire got growly with her. She forced Angel to talk to her instead of keeping everything to himself and, in the process, had shared what she’d been through as well. He could see the beginnings of something special and hoped wholeheartedly that nothing would bollocks their budding relationship up.

A soft knock on the doorframe brought their attention to Angel. He was holding a fresh bouquet of flowers to replace the ones he’d brought the previous day. After trying to convince him that a new bouquet everyday wasn’t necessary, and failing, the seer had given in gracefully and oohed and ahhed over the blooms. Cordy smiled indulgently and rolled her eyes. “Since when do you need to knock? Get in here, you big doof.”

Angel gave her a half smile and set the flowers where she could see them before placing a chaste kiss on her forehead. “How are you feeling today?” Her heartbeat was strong and steady and he knew she would make a full recovery, but he wanted to hear her take. He stood next to Willow and laid a hand on her shoulder. Neither seemed to notice the naturalness of the action.

Cordy huffed. “I want to go home. I’m sure Dennis is going crazy without me there and I miss him, too. He could take care of me better than these nurses. This bed is beyond uncomfortable and they won’t let me get up.”

The three visitors smiled. Cordelia had been saying the same thing since she’d woken up. Spike absently took her hand and soothingly stroked his thumb over her knuckles. “You have a broken leg and a severe concussion, pet. Just be patient and you’ll be home soon enough.”

Willow jumped and rummaged through her bag, “I forgot to tell you I stopped by your place before I came over.” She pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Cordelia. “Dennis sends his best and told me to tell you not to worry about him.”

Cordelia unfolded the paper and read the heartfelt words her ghost had painstakingly penned. She knew he must have been exhausted after. It took an extraordinary amount of energy for him to write anything down. She sniffed and wiped a tear away. “Tell him thank you and that I miss him.”

“Will do.” Willow looked at the clock again then at Angel. “You ready to go? I should try to finish that report for Mrs. Rosenbaum.” She quickly looked at Cordy. “You don’t mind that I’m helping with the paperwork, do you? I don’t want to step on your toes.”

Cordelia waved her off. “Pfft, knock yourself out. We all know my talents lay elsewhere anyway. I’m glad Angel and Wes have you here to help while I’m out of commission. God knows what the office would be like when I got back if they were left to their own devices.”

Angel tried to act offended, but he was very glad Willow was there, too. If it hadn’t been for her and Spike showing up when they had, he might have actually dusted himself. The thought had been very tempting indeed. But over the last week, the petite redhead had bullied, badgered, cajoled, and sweet-talked him out of his shell. Angel was mending his relationship with his childe and forging a stronger friendship with Willow. He was vastly irritated at Buffy and the others in Sunnydale for how they had treated her after Oz left, but Spike had told him last night that she was doing much better since they’d arrived. She’d made Wesley feel welcome and the former watcher was even getting along with Spike. All in all, Angel’s life was showing promise again.

He smiled at Willow. “I’m ready when you are, little one.” Angel cocked his head slightly as he heard her heartbeat speed up a little. After she’d given Cordy and Spike hugs, he took her arm with a quizzical little smile on his face. As they walked to his car, Angel asked, “Are you hungry?”

Willow thought about it and realized that she was starving. Her appetite had been off since Oz had left, but over the past few days it had started to return. “I’m starving. What’s good around here?” She asked then realized whom she was talking to. She flushed. “Sorry, like you would really know. Silly me-“

Angel cut Willow off before she could really get going on a babblefest. He chuckled. “It’s alright, Willow. Been living with Doyle and Cordelia for months now. I know what they like to eat.” He sobered when he realized he had referred to Doyle in the present. “I mean…”

Willow wrapped an arm around her friend’s waist and leaned her head against his arm. Angel automatically wrapped it around her shoulders as she said quietly, “I know what you meant, Angel.” She looked up at him and her heart broke a little at the sad look in his eyes. She smiled determinedly. “So come on, Oh Great Culinary Expert, what are ya gonna feed me?”

He smirked, letting the morose mood go. “You like Chinese?”

“Is the Pope Catholic?”

~*~

Back at the office, Willow shared her fried rice and cashew shrimp with Wesley as the three of them tried to bring order to the chaos that was Cordelia’s filing system. They had been at it for about an hour when the phone rang.

Wesley reached for it and said automatically, “Angel Investigations, we help the helpless.”

There was silence on the other end and he was about to hang up when a familiar voice questioned, “Wesley?”

“Ah, Miss Summers. What can I do for you?” He watched Willow’s head come up. “You want to know if Angel has seen Miss Rosenberg?” Angel came out of his office to stand near the former watcher so he could hear both sides of the conversation.

Willow watched both men’s expressions darken as Buffy babbled on and she glanced at the calendar. Nine days, she’d been gone. She’d left a message for Buffy the day after she and Spike had arrived and hadn’t heard from her or any of the others. The Slayer was just now getting around to calling her? But it sounded like Buffy had never gotten the message. Willow shook her head and Wesley nodded his understanding. He said to Buffy, “If you’ll hold on just a moment, I’ll get him for you.” Without giving her a chance to respond, he put her on hold.

“What did she say?” Willow asked calmly.

Angel’s eyes were flickering from brown to amber and she detected a low growl coming from him. “She said she and the others realized two days ago that they hadn’t seen or heard from you in at least a week and they couldn’t find you anywhere. They also noticed that Spike was gone and she thinks he somehow managed to kidnap you and thought it would be a good idea if I could help her find you.”

Willow nodded thoughtfully. “So I guess this means she hasn’t bothered to check her messages. They just now noticed I’m gone, huh?”

She leaned over the desk to pick up the phone and held Angel’s gaze as she took Buffy off hold. “Buffy?…Yeah, I’m fine…I’ve been here for nine days…Why? I had to help a friend… I’ll be back this weekend.” She saw Angel’s face fall and smiled slightly. “I’m only coming back to get my stuff. I’m moving to LA.” She noted the stunned look on his face and her smile grew. It turned into a frown when she heard Buffy’s next words.

“No, I haven’t lost my mind…I’m not talking about this with you right now, Buff…Why not? How about the fact that I’ve been gone for almost two weeks and you just realized it two days ago? How about the fact that no matter how many times I’ve apologized for what happened, none of you will let it go?” Willow closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’ll be back Friday night. I suppose we can talk then. Goodbye, Buffy.” She hung up without giving the blonde a chance to respond and looked at Wesley and Angel.

They wore matching expressions of surprise and she smiled sheepishly. “Um, that is, I’m moving to LA if you think I might be able to help you.”

Angel moved around the desk and pulled Willow from her chair and into a hug. He said softly, “You’ve already helped me more than you know, little one. Of course there’s a place for you here.”

Wesley looked around the small office when it became apparent that something was shifting in the dynamic of his two friends. He said out loud, “We’re going to need a larger office.”

-30-


End file.
